The New England Revolution need to be sharper than they were in Sunday afternoon’s season opening 3-3 draw against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium, but at least they have Diego Fagundez to help pick up the slack.
The 21-year-old striker started off his campaign in style, as he not only opened the scoring just three minutes into Sunday’s contest, but also set up the Revolution’s two other goals, including Daigo Kobayashi’s game-winning strike in the dying minutes of second half stoppage time.
Thanks to the young Uruguayan’s efforts, the Revolution not only rescued a point from matchday one, but also improved their all-time record in season openers to 5-11-5.
It didn’t take long for Fagundez to make his presence known, either. in the opening minutes, Jose Goncalves advanced up the field and into the center circle to lob a pass downfield for Charlie Davies, as Houston defender Jalil Anibaba knocked down the feed into the path of Fagundez, who settled the loose ball from 25-yards out and whacked his first tally of the season into the back of the net.
The goal was the Revolution’s second-fastest all-time on opening day, just behind Giovanni Savarese’s first minute strike against the Miami Fusion in 1999.
The hosts managed to find their composure after conceding the early goal. Houston clogged up the four-man Revolution midfield and forced turnovers, using the speed and creativity of Christian Maidana, who the Dynamo acquired in the off-season from Philadelphia, to generate scoring chances.
In the 28th minute, Maidana set a curling free kick in the box for David Horst, who glanced the cross wide of the right post.
Then, just before halftime, Maidana ran into the penalty area to chase down a loose ball, which Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth dropped in a collision with Goncalves, allowing the Argentinian to unapologetically walk the ball into the net to make it 1-1.
Houston took their first lead of the match in the 50th minute when Riccardo Clark and Will Bruin combined to free up Andrew Wenger in the six-yard box to slot in his first goal as a member of the Dynamo.
But the Revolution responded moments later, as Fagundez sent Davies in alone on goal in the 52nd minute off a simple pass into the attack.
Davies collected the ball and fired off of Houston keeper Joe Willis, but collected the rebound and sent it rolling into the goal for the equalizer.
The Revolution picked up the pressure thereafter by inviting Scott Caldwell, who came on at halftime to replace an injured Kelyn Rowe, to advance into the attack and work as a playmaker next to Lee Nguyen and Fagundez.
That said, the hosts managed to score against the run of play through Giles Barnes, who pounded a shot past Shuttleworth to make it 3-2 in the 77th minute.
At that point, the Revolution seemed to get sloppier in the center of the pitch, though coach Jay Heaps opted to add another attacking player into the mix in the 85th minute when he substituted Daigo Kobayashi on for holding midfielder Gershon Koffie, who was making his debut for the Revs after be signed from Vancouver last month.
That tactical switch proved to be most vital for the Revolution, as Fagundez found Kobayashi for the equalizing goal in the final minute of second half stoppage time.
After pressuring Houston’s back line with a series of attacks, Fagundez finally broke through with a right-footed cross from the right flank that Kobayashi managed to redirect to the lower corner of the net for his first goal as a Revolution player.
